As technology and industry in the modern world continues to grow and expand, so do the power requirements. Many different sources of power generation exist today involving: fossil fuel burning, solar, wind, geothermal, hydroelectric, wave and current power generation, etc. Hydroelectric, wave and current power generation use the movement of water to generate power. The majority of the planet is covered in water, most of which is constantly moving. This moving water power can be harnessed and converted to electrical energy through apparatuses which take advantage of the electromagnetic phenomenon known as Faraday's law, which states that an electromotive force is produced by moving an electrical conductor through a magnetic field. Essentially, moving water is free energy waiting to be captured and utilized. Hydroelectric generation accounts for around 15 to 20 percent of the world's electricity generation, mostly from dams such as the Hoover Dam, which utilize the gravitational force of falling water to generate electricity. Hydroelectricity is a valuable source of energy since it is renewable; it has a low cost and produces significantly less waste since it does not require hydrocarbons to be burned. A study funded by the European Commission found that hydroelectricity produces the least amount of greenhouse gases and externalities.
Another method of hydroelectric generation is to utilize the movement of marine currents. Marine currents are driven by the tides, wind, solar heating, and occasionally variations in water density and salinity. Marine currents in tidal estuaries are usually bi-directional and change direction 180 degrees with the tide cycles, and are an excellent potential source of hydroelectric generation. Marine currents in the open ocean are also influenced by the tide cycles and often have a predominant bi-directional heading but other influences make them multi-directional as well. In some areas of the open ocean, the currents are almost always uni-directional and are often high velocity. These areas are often found between land masses. Many of these areas of high velocity often have uni-directional current and are sometimes near large population centers making the transmission of the power to the population centers very efficient as well. According to a 2006 white paper by the U.S. Department of the Interior, a 12-mph water flow contains about the same energy as a 110-mph air flow. This makes ocean currents a promising new source of hydroelectric power which is largely untapped and virtually unlimited in potential.
It is therefore an objective of the present invention to provide a modular support frame for marine current generators that harness marine currents which can be installed globally in varying water depths from shallow to deep using a variety of methods. Additional hydroelectric generating devices are also connected with the modular support frame to maximize the power output of the present invention.